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Michael Jordan and Bill Clinton were everywhere during last week's
Presidents Cup in San Francisco (Photo: AP/Eric Risberg)
There was a rather amusing post-Presidents Cup round-table exchange among golf writers who ridiculed the ubiquity of NBA Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan at Harding Park golf course in San Francisco.
“Barf,” emitted Sports Illustrated’s Alan Shipnuck during Golf.com’s regular PGA Tour Confidential kaffe klatsch. “Jordan was a circus sideshow, nothing more.”
Tell us how you really feel, Alan.
Gary Van Sickle from SI chimed in with his concurrence. “Couldn’t agree more, Alan,” he said. “Honestly, what’s this guy really doing hanging around with the pros? Get a day job.”
The constant presence of his Air-ness just rubbed Golf.com’s Jim Gorant the wrong way. “It was both cool and ridiculous,” he sniffed. “You’d never see that at the Ryder Cup.”
Mini revolt. The golf wags may not have been alone in their weariness with the world’s best-ever cager. The PGA Tour reportedly excluded Monsieur L’Air from Wednesday’s opening ceremony, prompting U.S. golfers and caddies to scribble “23” (Jordan’s Chicago Bulls’ jersey number) on their caps for Thursday’s opening round, according to Golf.com’s David Dusek. What a powerful political statement, eh?
Media darling. It seems the PGA Tour wanted the spotlight shining on its players, not on its assistant/honorary-captain-in-charge-of-motivating-U.S.-player-Sean-O’Hair. Why, then, observers wonder, did the powers-that-be invite Jordan to be part of the team? Surely, they did so for PR reasons, not for the hoops great’s talent with a 3-iron.
Jordan certainly got his share of attention, what with the City of San Francisco citing him for smoking cigars on the golf course (not allowed on city-owned grounds), and Golf Channel and NBC cameras following MJ’s golf cart around as he zipped between and among practice rounds and matches all week.
By the way -- talk about here, there and everywhere. Yeah, it’s the “Presidents” Cup and all. But surely ex-prez Bill Clinton and his endless mulligans could have been breaking 80 on some golf course somewhere, rather than making like Zelig all week, doncha think?
Thinking ahead. By all accounts, Michael Jordan's presence was anything but a distraction for the U.S. team, which handily dispatched its International team rivals. Perhaps Mr. Jordan will be free to roam about the course during next year's Ryder Cup.
If you want snarky, how about the International team’s Robert Allenby’s sore-loser comments about U.S. player Anthony Kim? Check it out at Allenby slams Kim as loose cannon and new John Daly.
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